The Playground
by Cezille07
Summary: The first fight, the first few enemies, the first monster, the first friend. Zick is starting to experience everything on his first day of school.
1. A Mother's Love

**Playground**

_Cezille07_

Self-esteem problems begin early in life.

Setting – Old Mill Elementary School, in a nursery classroom to be precise, in view of the school's front yard and the playground. There, a batch of new nursery students is beginning their first day.

Disclaimer: Monster Allergy was created by four creative artists. The central idea for this fic, however, was Jaeh's...and I made the rest.

* * *

Chapter 1. A Mother's Love.

It wasn't too cold for an early autumn morning. His mom walked him to the school he'd be a part of for the remaining years of his childhood, and subsequently his adolescent years. He smiled randomly at the first boy who ran past him, and who took no notice of him whatsoever.

"Zick, you be good, okay?" asked Greta, as she took him into a long embrace.

"Yes, mom," Zick answered, looking around at the many children who were probably also just like him, about to begin a journey of learning.

Greta released him. "Here's your inhaler. Promise me you won't lose it."

"I won't, mom." A couple of girls who looked like twins glanced at him with an air of pride. He waved a small 'Hi', and noted an indignant snub as they walked away. He took the item his mother handed him and started to follow the crowd to the entrance.

"Zick!"

He turned around.

It was Greta. "Please, hug me again!" She ran after him and gave another tight embrace. "I love you, Zick!" she whispered as she rained numerous kisses on his little blue head.

He smiled involuntarily. "I love you too, mom!"

Eventually the school bell had to ring and break their moment, but neither of them appeared disturbed nor disappointed as their distance continually increased.

"Bye, Zick. I'll pick you up later," said a teary-eyed Greta, making limp movements that resembled 'Goodbye'.


	2. A Voice In My Head

**Playground**

_Cezille07_

Self-esteem problems begin early in life.

* * *

Chapter 2. A Voice in My Head.

The moment he was seated comfortably in a nice empty desk in his classroom, a large yellow bus with a large placard bearing the word 'Tourist', came. He watched a string of children, perhaps as old and big as he was—or rather, young and small, and adults who seemed to be their parents, fall in line and proceed to the school yard just beyond his view, headed by a nice-looking teacher. As the last of the children disappeared behind the walls, someone had tapped his shoulder.

"Hello, you. I'm Mattie, this is my best friend Patty," the girl with glasses and dark, shoulder-length hair said. "Your name is Zick, right? We want to make friends with everyone, and you're next on our list."

Zick smiled. His first friends? "Alright. But how did you know my name?"

"Oh we know everything," remarked Patty. "We know where you live, for example. And we would know what you had for breakfast this morning too if we had better sources. But we'll get there."

He chuckled. "Cool! What else do you know?"

"We'll know more after you let us interview you," Mattie answered.

The door opened. A woman wearing a dress similar to the one he just saw entered. "Good morning, children!" she greeted.

Mattie looked at him darkly and winked before slipping away to her seat.

The teacher spoke again. "My name is Petula Swift, but you can call me Teacher Petty or Ms. Swift. I'm your teacher, and together we will all learn about many things," she said cheerily. "Now I want to know each of you first. When I call your name, please stand up and say something about yourself."

She proceeded to opening the folder she was carrying, and trying to look for the class list.

_This is going to take very long_, thought Zick. Bored, he turned his attention to the window again.

There was a little girl, red-haired, lost but looking well on her own. She was wandering around the bus. He assumed she was one of the tourist people who went to the school yard for some artefact of sorts but got left behind. She didn't notice him staring. He, on the other hand, could figure out what she was mouthing.

"Where are the other kids? Oh no, I'm lost! But ooh, I like this place, it's nice and warm and...."

"David?" called Teacher Petty.

The blond boy he first met stood up.

"Go on, tell us something about you," Teacher Petty encouraged. "Anything we would like to know?"

David gulped.

_I don't know, okay? That's very hard! _

"I don't know, okay? That's very hard!" the boy admitted.

Zick paused for a moment and wondered if the voice he heard in his head predicted what David answered, or if he just imagined it.

"Anything?" urged the teacher.

David sighed. "Well, my name is David McMackamack. I like reading. I also like playing with other people."

Teacher Petty clapped her hands. "Wonderful! Who wants to go next?" A few hands shot up into the air. "Mattie?"

_Patty and me are best friends, and we like to know everything! _

"Patty and me are best friends, and we like to know everything!" she declared.

Zick looked at Mattie. There was that voice again. What was happening? Now _that_ can't be a guess, can it? But what if it was? Maybe someone was whispering it behind him. He turned to the desk one row behind.

It was empty.

He went by generally unnoticed for the rest of the morning, except for when Teacher Petty finally called him.

"Zick?"

He didn't have to be called. He heard this 'voice' again, calling his name before Teacher Petty thought of it.


	3. The Worse of Two Monsters

**Playground**

_Cezille07_

* * *

Chapter 3. The Worse of Two Monsters.

Something caught his eye. Something just outside the window, almost hidden from his view but just close enough for him to see it, moving. Something big, red, really clumsy, but really amusing.

Zick's last few hellos to people he just met were successful enough. He lifted a hand to greet the creature, but it didn't see him.

"Zick, do you want to say something?" Teacher Petty asked. She paused from writing down the first five letters of the alphabet for the fourth time or so.

He returned the questioning look but didn't answer.

The creature continued to trample over the flowers, trudge along the dirt, and even put a shoe in its mouth. It laughed loud that Zick heard it through the glass windows.

The whole incident was unforgotten even as the bell rang for recess.

It didn't take long to find his way to the school yard. The red 'monster' was playing there with a couple of low branches and the shoe it was chewing on.

"Hi," he said uncertainly, "uh, good morning." It barely heard him. "Excuse me?" He came closer. No reaction.

He sneezed.

Zick remembered his inhaler. He sneezed again.

The monster finally noticed him. "Hi there! Me be Bombo!" it said. It attempted to hug him, but he stepped back a few feet and fumbled in his bag for the inhaler.

Ahh. To breathe freely. "Sorry," he said weakly.

The creature, 'Bombo', spit out the shoe and held it in front of him. "You want to play? We play find shoe and eat shoe!"

Zick tried to shrug away the laugh, but it formed anyway. "I don't eat shoes!"

"You must try! It be very delicious!" it pressed.

"No thank you."

At that moment, a string of people emerged from a nearby statue and filed into the Tourist bus. The lost girl earlier was with still not them; she was still in the playground. The voice he imagined her speaking in was exactly the same as her real voice. "I don't like statues! I wonder why people have to come here and see this," she was telling herself.

The Bombo grinned broadly. "You want to find good shoe?" He pointed at the mass of people now waiting to get inside the bus. "We can share."

Zick felt an insane dread at the thought. "That might not be a good idea. People wear shoes, not eat them." He looked at the girl. She might like the Bombo, he thought, somehow hopefully. "Let's talk to her."

"Who?"

"See that?" and he pointed to her. She had just followed the people inside the bus.

"They leaving. Field trip to this school only for statue."

Zick sighed. "What's with the statue?"

The Bombo balanced the shoe on its nose. "Bombo no know about statue. Bombo like looking at shoes. Shoes very interesting."

"Why do you like shoes so much?"

"It be very tasty!" It licked its lips with its large tongue. "Bombo...like _your_ shoes!"

"Oh," Zick's voice trailed away. He went on staring after the yellow bus. Its engine hummed into life, but it didn't move.

Then a voice brought him back to reality.

"Who's your friend?" It was Patty. She wore a strange, disgusted look on her face. "And why are your shoes wet?"

"Wet?" Zick looked down at his feet and saw that the Bombo was trying to lick the shoes off his feet. "Bombo! Please stop eating my shoes!"

Mattie was laughing behind her hand. "Who or what is a Bombo?"

"It's this big thing!" Zick said, half to the inquirer and half to the monster. "Let go of my shoes!"

"You can pretend really well," remarked Mattie. "You can stop now."

"What do you mean? Bombo is trying to eat my shoes!" Zick turned to the monster. "Come on! Stop it!"

"Whatever." The girls started to walk away. Patty slightly turned her head, and in a low voice, added, "...Loser."


	4. The Playground

**Playground**

_Cezille07_

* * *

Chapter 4. The Playground.

He managed to escape the Bombo's nonsense over the shoes and locate the statue the tourists must have been looking at. And he found something else.

There it was! The highlight of every child's imagination: the swings, the seesaw, the slide...the entire playground in its vibrant colors, and the thrilled cries of its welcome inhabitants.

The three-foot child ambled over to the empty seesaw and sat on one end. He felt the cold metal handle in his tiny hands. He could imagine himself rising and falling through the cool morning air, with a shadow of a friend, laughing like everyone else. He grinned. _Success._

He momentarily forgot everything that transpired today, at least until he was seated comfortably.

"Hey, loser!" a bigger kid yelled from the distance. "Zick! Get off our seesaw! It's ours!"

Zick sighed. That David…so he did like to play with others, if 'play' meant forcing your way to get what you want for fun. If this school, this playground, were to be any kid's safe haven outside home then no person like David could be in it. But he was here now. This was not the safe place he imagined out of the house. School was, for Zick, the only other place he knew now aside from home and the doctor's office, where he often landed because of his allergies.

David was right in front of him, then. "If you want your face rearranged, you can stay there as long as you like," he threatened coolly.

_Please, not now,_ his mind begged. _I've never played on a seesaw before. At least without mom worrying about me too much._

But David seemed ready for a random act of bullying he had no power to predict. Zick walked away, defeated.

At least the swings didn't need playmates, and there were six available. Except now, that is. The 'twins' Patty and Mattie were occupying the middle two. And they wore a sour face when they saw him approach.

"Keep away!" yelled Patty, shooing him. "I don't want your virus contaminating our swings!"

Mattie smirked. "That's not very nice, Patty," she said, while her 'twin' grimaced. "If you want to be really mean, you have to be very, very bad! Watch me!" She looked at Zick and, pointing, directed his gaze to a wall to their right. The broken garbage dump was a mere attraction for the trash to be piled at. "See that, weirdo? That's _your _place."

Zick was thinking of an answer. Then he glanced back at the girls, who walked up to him and kicked some dust into his face. He began coughing— "But I'm allergic to dust!"

"That's the point! Go away!" called Patty. The playground was laughing with her.

He reached in his pocket for the inhaler. It wasn't there. He looked again. Nothing. It wasn't in his bag either.

"Looking for this?"

He looked up at Mattie, who held it up for him.

"Give it to me, please," he begged. "Please!"

"Sorry. Why don't I pass it to David and you two talk it over?" she answered. Without another thought, she flung it in the air at David, who had been watching them.

He covered his face and ran for the exit, still coughing. He had never played there, and he will never try again.


	5. Five Lives

**Playground**

_Cezille07_

* * *

Let's shift into Elena's point of view, for a reason you will soon understand. And we'll see how an accident can change five lives....

Chapter 5. Five Lives.

She was crossing the street for the ice cream stand at the other side, but halfway, someone bumped into her and pushed her into the sidewalk.

She felt the fall earn her hands and knees a few scratches. She got up and turned. Why would anyone just—

There was a little boy, collapsed in the middle of the street where just seconds ago she stood. She saw the struggle in his eyes as he tried to breathe but could not. Around him, people had gathered and were talking in high voices over whose fault it was.

Their bus driver alighted from his vehicle. "Oh my God!" he said, but appeared that he couldn't say anything more. She looked at him and noticed that his bus was merely inches from the boy's face.

"Elena!" Those were her parents' voices, coming from among the crowd. Finally her mother emerged and pulled her into a choking embrace. "Elena! Are you alright, honey? Where were you? I'm so glad you're okay!" Then it was her father's turn. It was the same embrace. The same quickly-fired questions. The same "Thank God!" lines that she was unhurt.

But the little boy. He was—

Gone. They must have taken him to the nearest hospital, or the school clinic.

"Lucky that little boy saved you. You could have been...you could have been killed, Elena," her dad remarked quietly, still hugging her. "I want to tell you something, because things like this happen all the time and we never know if we'll survive. I love you Elena," he said. He kissed her thrice on her head, and reached for his wife. "I love you Julie." He kissed her too.

Elena wriggled free from his grasp and breathed deeply. She had almost died. She had almost been squashed into a paper-thin substance. And this boy, himself struggling, had _saved_ her life.

She _must_ find him. She _must_.

"Harvey, why don't we cancel the rest of the tour and go home? We all need to rest," Julie suggested. Her husband shook his head, "But we've paid for everything, small fry! We could stay in a hotel for the rest of the day, and, you know, maybe continue tomorrow. By then we'll have forgotten what happened."

Elena exhaled slowly. She recognized the looks on their faces. But she had to stay here, at least to see him again. "Can we stay here for a few more minutes?"

Her parents exchanged confused looks, but nodded.

They will get their things and call a cab. It'll take a while. She had time. She _had_ to find him.

So she ran for the large gate without knowing where it led. No one realized she wasn't a student, and let her enter the premises. Now what? Where was the clinic?

* * *

Alright. She found the place. Why couldn't she enter? She thought of waiting outside. Maybe think about why again she wanted to see her savior. Or about why she even bothered.

Well, because not counting her parents, in her entire life, no one had pretty much cared.

Even if it was an accident that made him look like a hero, she felt indebted.

Protective.

Holy spit, she didn't even know that word existed before, it only felt right.

She sighed.

She found one of the benches and waited for any familiar character from the scene of the crime.

* * *

It was then she spotted a familiar mushroom-head character. She had ignored him the first time; she was busy wandering around, and he was picking a fight—she remembered now, it was with that boy. Now, he appeared devoid of all happiness in the world. He was shrouded in this air of misery, looking down at his feet, shuffling forward and back and forward and back, as he made his way out of the main building.

Elena blocked his path. "You."

The boy grudgingly looked up at her. "Yeah?"

"What's your problem?"

He must have thought she was asking out of concern. "None of your business. Get out of my way."

"Oh yeah? And if I don't want to?"

The mushroom-head boy twisted his face. "I don't fight with girls. Just move."

"Want to start?"

The boy half-smiled, but shook his head. "No. I would love to, someday."

"Listen up, I never fight, but if there's any good time to start it's now!"

His face had contorted into a mere funny expression, one in between throwing tantrums and laughing, but he didn't show any more sign of aggression. "Whatever," he said, and bumped her as he went on his way.

It was a delightful feeling. She wasn't like this. But it felt _good_. Fighting for someone....

"Wait!" she called, recalling a background yell she heard from a voice that sounded like his. The mushroom-head boy craned his neck to peek at her. Elena said, "You have something that doesn't belong to you."

The boy shuddered, but not in fear. "It's not yours either."

"I know."

He threw it at her, and she caught it. He looked about to say something, but dismissed it. He sat with her on the bench in total resign.

* * *

And she realized two shadows blocked her sunlight. Two girls, 'twins', occupied the rest of the bench.

"Hi David," one of them greeted in a by-the-way manner.

"Patty, I know a way we can help new people," the dark-haired one told her companion, who said nothing. She went on, "Have you ever heard of a blacklist?"

The girl named Patty looked up at her friend. "There's only going to be one name there, Mattie."

"Then we agree!" Mattie exclaimed. She placed her backpack on the ground and reached inside for a piece of paper and a pencil, and wrote a single word at the top left corner.

Elena saw what they were writing. "Who's Zick?"

"The boy earlier. Too bad the accident didn't kill him," Patty remarked.

"'Too bad'? It wasn't even the accident that hurt him, it was—" and suddenly Elena realized how these girls knew. They were _part_ of the accident.

"It was no one's fault," Mattie finished the sentence for her. "He's just a complete nutcase no one should care about. Get this, he was talking to a mud puddle, and claiming some creature was eating his shoes—"

"Didn't you see it?" asked Elena. And right then, a light bulb of an idea turned on in her head. She grinned as the 'twins' exchanged horrified looks. "Well, didn't you?"

Patty hesitated. "See what?"

Elena stood up. "The monster! It was big and red! It had a short tail, a big mouth, and an even bigger stomach! He's a shoe-eating monster! His hands were small, but fast enough to grab anyone's shoes! And the scariest part is, he's got two demon eyes! One big yellow eye, one big white eye!"

"Stop! That's scary!" yelled David. They all looked at him. "I don't like...scary stuff. I don't like monsters," he whispered, bowing his head.

"What's your name?" demanded Mattie. Elena felt her stomach upturn, and didn't respond. Mattie collected her things and quietly said, "Let's go Patty."

They left, noses high in the air. They once glanced at each other, and Elena understood that to mean, "That girl is next on our blacklist."

"That isn't true, right? What you told them?" the boy called David probed, tapping her shoulder.

"Of course it is," Elena retorted. "I saw it too!"

"Y-you d-did?" he asked, backing away from her.

"Demon eyes! The monster's going to get you with his demon eyes!" she yelled. And David suddenly ran away, wailing loudly.

* * *

She was alone again. She took her seat at the bench and sighed. Maybe she won't find her savior. But what would it matter? Should it matter? She sighed again. Her parents were making their way to her. She had to leave. She had to leave forever.

"Hey," someone called.

She turned around, and saw Zick. "You're okay!" she exclaimed. Funny, she didn't even know why she was suddenly happy.

He looked hesitant, but he said, "I saw what you did."

They both blushed.

"Thanks for saving me," she said in a little voice.

Zick looked at his feet. "I should thank you too," he answered meekly.

"Oh, wait...." Elena felt her pocket and remembered something. "Your inhaler," she said tentatively while she took it out. She handed it to him. "Here."

"Thanks. I thought it was lost."

"Uh."

"Yeah."

"Well...."

They stood there, waiting for Elena's parents. They looked at each other, wondering what the other was thinking. Just as Julie picked up Elena, a car stopped in front of the school gates and out rushed a blonde woman that picked up Zick and covered him in kisses.

"Bye," she mouthed. They were being carried away in different directions. This was the last time they'd meet. She stared at him as long as she could, and so did he. He waved goodbye, and so did she.

"Bye Elena!" he called out, smiling.

How did he know her name? Ah who cared? Her eyes brimmed with tears the moment he was out of her view.


	6. What Grown Up Minds Never Forget

**Playground**

_Cezille07_

* * *

So they grew up apart. So they had different lives, despite what happened before. However, destiny might prove that, while some things easily leave us, some things we can never forget.

Chapter 6. What Grown-Up Minds Never Forget.

Suddenly, he heard a noise at the door. It was like some poor creature had been jammed into the doggy door. And he was right. A healthy fur ball of a cat was rammed halfway through. And there seemed to be something or someone still forcing him in.

He reached for his mask and opened the door.

"AHHHH!"

The girl stopped screaming for a moment, and looked about to begin another bout of horribly surprised yelling.

"Oh, sorry about the mask, it's just that I'm allergic to cat hair," he explained as he removed it. "Speaking of which, this must be yours."

She looked at him, exhaled, and chuckled nervously. "Oh, how on Earth did he get in there? Sorry about that. Purrcy must've gotten stuck in there while he was playing with your cat and—"

"No problem. Bye."

He shut the door, thinking, _No, there is a problem...._ when the girl began speaking again, "Um, my name's Elena! I'm your new neighbor! He's really cute, your bald cat. Maybe we could let the two of them play together some time! They get along so well!"

Purrcy made a whining noise, but Elena disregarded it. "You've got a pretty house—"

Zick gulped. She just _had_ to mention 'play' and 'getting along'. "Thanks," he said, trying to sound polite. "But now if you don't mind, I have to close the door. The wind blows in a lot of dust...and I'm allergic to dust."

A _certain_ moment of his life replayed in his mind. Certain questions were still zipping through his head: About the 'Bombo' at the playground. The girl. How she 'saw' it. Or if she was pretending for his sake. Why she would do so anyway. Or if it was possible that his memory as a five-year-old was as unclear as Snyakutz Bu's fake French accent.

"Wait, Zick, I wanted...I wanted to give you something!" Elena went on, as she fished for an item in her pocket and handed it to him. "It's a...um, a friendship snack! I'm taking them around to all our new neighbours, and I thought that you—"

"That's nice of you, really, um...Elena," and he meant it. Something heavy weighed in his chest. "But I'm allergic to vanilla icing too!"

While he had the chance, he finally closed the door.

He sighed. Timothy was saying something about the girl being a snoop, and a few reasons to why she knew his name. He guessed Patty and Mattie had something to do with it, as always. But it was beside the question.

No one had ever _tried_ so hard to meet him.

He walked past the receiving area and headed straight for his room. He could hear her thoughts. He was 'different' after all, so it might as well be useful.

"That little twerp's allergic to everything!" she exclaimed in thought.

His lips curved into a smile.

He knew he had something else to worry about for now—the End of Summer Party at school. If she lived here, that would mean he'd meet her again, right?

* * *

He came right in time to see Elena and...oh, no...David about to start beating each other up.

"David!" he yelled. His voice echoed around the hallway. The rest of the students looked at him. "Cut it out! Now! Leave her alone!"

That familiar mushroom-head character glanced at him and froze. "Stay out of this, Zick! This is b-between her and u-us!" he stuttered.

Zick heaved a sigh. "Do I have to look at you with the demon eyes again, De-David?" He managed a half-smile when he recalled what that meant. _That_ was the first time he ever 'won' against David. Though he never quite knew why the concept scared the school bully like such.

"N-no, Z-zick! W-w-we were just k-kidding around!" Now it was David who was sweating uneasily.

"Alright, just...don't let it happen again!" Zick went forward, picked up Elena and led her away from the crowd, whose eyes, he felt, were following them.

"Gee, thanks Zick!" she said.

She was trying to read his expression, but he looked away. There was just something in her voice, in her eyes. Something innocent, and _alive_. Something he never quite had.

"So, why was he afraid of you? What was that stuff about the demon eyes?" pressed Elena.

A hint of a smile crossed his face. "I'm not bothering you with anything. But you won't stop asking me questions."

"Huh? Well, you won't answer any of them." She laughed. "Do I bother you?"

It was then they passed by an old block.

There it was. The highlight of every child's imagination: the swings, the seesaw, the slide...the entire playground in its vibrant colors, and the thrilled cries of its welcome inhabitants.

There it was. The cradle of all prejudice and all his nightmares. That day he realized that the playground was not a good place for children. That day he realized...he was an outcast, and that it would never change.

"Ooh, I never noticed _that_ this morning when I went to school!" Elena declared excitedly, with this _aliveness_ radiating from her that it managed enough to make him grin. "What are you waiting for? Let's go!"

She tugged at his sleeve, and he couldn't resist. A playmate. A schoolmate. Real, and not a shadow of a friend.

The rest of the afternoon found them talking by the swings....

Perhaps both of them were thinking of the same thing when they sat there, trying to numb out the first day's tragedies....

And somewhere hidden was a Bombo who remembered them from the fateful day they first met....

****END****


End file.
